# Burkina Faso **Burkina Faso** is the Sahel state of about 24 million people ruled since September 2022 by Captain [[Ibrahim Traoré]], who was 34 when he seized power — and who has become the Sahel's most aggressively marketed ruler. A pan-Africanist, anti-French persona styled on the revolutionary Thomas Sankara has been amplified by a flood of AI-generated propaganda across African social media, while the state has lost control of much of its territory to jihadists. Traoré expelled French forces, brought in Russian troops, dissolved every political party, and told the country in April 2026 to forget democracy: it is "not for us." > [!note] Canonical country record > This page owns the bare name **Burkina Faso**. Its partners are at [[Alliance of Sahel States]], [[Mali]] and [[Niger]]; the Russian force at [[Africa Corps]]. ## Two coups and a closed state | Date | Event | |---|---| | Jan 2022 | Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba ousts elected President Roch Kaboré | | Sep 30, 2022 | Traoré ousts Damiba; interim president from October 6 | | Feb 2023 | French forces end operations in the country | | Sep 2023 | Founds the [[Alliance of Sahel States]] with Mali and Niger | | Jan 2024 | About 100 Russian personnel arrive, the first of a planned ~300 | | May 2024 | National consultations boycotted by most parties extend Traoré's rule by five years | | Aug 24, 2024 | Barsalogho massacre — JNIM fighters kill civilians digging defensive trenches | | Jan 29, 2025 | Formally leaves ECOWAS with Mali and Niger | | May 11, 2025 | Jihadists overrun the army camp at Djibo | | Sep 2025 | Homosexuality criminalized; joint announcement of ICC withdrawal | | Jan 1, 2026 | Placed under a full US entry ban; Burkina retaliates against Americans | | Jan 29, 2026 | All political parties dissolved, their assets seized by the state | | Jan 2026 | Government reports foiling an assassination plot — counted by DW as the fifth claimed plot in three years | ## The war it is losing Estimates put government control at only about a third to 40% of the country, with [[Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin]] and Islamic State Sahel holding or contesting the rest; some analysts put jihadist control as high as 60%. About three million people are internally displaced. At Barsalogho, Human Rights Watch verified at least 133 dead on video; other estimates run from 200 (UN) to more than 600. The army and its civilian militia (the VDP) have also committed mass killings — Human Rights Watch documented at least 130 Fulani civilians killed at Solenzo in March 2025. ## The Russian turn Russia reopened its embassy in 2023 and signed a memorandum with Rosatom in October 2023 to build a nuclear power plant (no construction start has been found). The first [[Africa Corps]] contingent arrived in January 2024 to protect Traoré and train troops; a separate GRU-linked unit, the Bears Brigade, deployed in May 2024 and left in August for the Kursk front. Traoré visited the Kremlin in May 2025. The February 2026 [[Africa Politology]] leak lists Burkina Faso among the Russian influence operation's target countries, and researchers trace much of the pro-Traoré AI content to accounts pushing pro-Russian narratives, though attribution to the Russian state is unproven. ## Washington Relations hit bottom in late 2025 — Burkina refused a US third-country deportation deal and was put under a full entry ban — then thawed: in March 2026 a State Department envoy visited Ouagadougou and offered cooperation, including lifting a suspension on military-equipment exports. Burkina notified the UN of its withdrawal from the [[International Criminal Court]] on June 24, 2026, effective one year later. ## See Also - [[Ibrahim Traoré]] · [[Alliance of Sahel States]] · [[Mali]] · [[Niger]] · [[Africa Corps]] · [[Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin]] - [[France]] · [[Africa]] · [[Countries Hub]]